T&T Former Finance Imbert : claims Government is broke !

T&T Former Finance Minister Imbert claims the government is broke !

Deputy People’s National Movement leader Colm Imbert claims there’s a recent Cabinet minute showing the Government took a total of $1.3 billion meant for loans to conduct critical work at State agencies and used it to assist in funding for the last two months of fiscal 2025.

And PNM leader Pennelope Beckles says she unearthed a purported circular from the Finance Ministry calling for all state agencies and statutory bodies to provide the ministry with details of all cash and cash equivalents they hold.“This Cabinet minute tells me the Government is broke!” declared Imbert during a PNM meeting in Morvant on Tuesday.

“Something is wrong. They’re scraping!” Beckles added.Imbert claimed the Government has not hired any new Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme contractors since it has no money.
“The Government is broke!”“This tells me the Government is broke - has no money. So I’m not surprised they don’t have money for goods and services or paying salaries,” Imbert claimed.

........Interesting

The past PNM government left the present government in such position.

Over 100 billion in debt, internally
Overdrawn at the central bank by 45 billion.
External debt is approximately 10 billion US.

Heritage Savings Fund approx. 6 billion US.

Not a good position to be in T&T.

In reply to sgtdjones
Short ass IMPbert pretending it's breaking news....Growley said the country was broke even before the elections... the reason he stepped dong and installed Garry Sobers

In reply to Narper

I have thought this bloke Imbert as an idiot and wondered how he could be a Minister of anything,sounds like a fool and looks like one.Imagine he up and say TT broke,he should have known that a few years ago,dunno why he doh keep his trap shut.

Expecting clean-up of PNM mess in 100 days just crazy


THE EDITOR: The phrase "the world's a stage and we are its actors" is a well-known quote from William Shakespeare's play As You Like It. Recently we have seen some excellent acting and posturing from former finance minister Colm Imbert.

The foreign exchange issue that the country is facing is not something that was created overnight. This issue has been plaguing our country for the last decade, with citizens being driven to despair and frustration over the lack of access to foreign exchange. The data is available for all to see.I would encourage all to visit the Central Bank’s excellent website and take a look at its publicly available database. A review of this data set would show that the current situation had its genesis early in the first term of the former PNM government.It is patently unfair and highly mischievous that Imbert would expect the new government to rectify a systemic failure, created by the PNM's stifling and myopic economic policies, in a mere 100 days in office.

We know the purpose of an opposition is to oppose, and its members would use any and every issue to criticise and to portray themselves in a good light. However, to criticise another party that has to clean up the economic mess they created and make it seem like this mess is a recent development is patently psychotic.The current government is making steps to deal with the structural deficits of the economy, which will bear fruits in due time. It was voted in to correct the wrongs of the last decade, and it should be allowed to do so without deliberate ambiguity from the opposition.

RICARDO JIMENEZ

Diego Martin

Imbert's liquidity crunch

THE EDITOR: I recently listened to the former minister of finance speak at a public PNM meeting where one of his concerns centered around the repurposing of loans intended for state enterprises. In his address, one statement in particular stood out to me. He claimed that based on current liquidity levels, it has become increasingly difficult to access financing in the domestic market. According to the member for Diego Martin North East, the banks “eh want to lend them no money,” which he linked to the alleged forced departure of the CEO of First Citizens bank.But here is the question the former minister must answer: if expenditure has long exceeded revenue and this country is still operating in a fiscal year that was budgeted by his own administration, would he not have faced the exact same challenge if he were still in office?

I know that the member for Diego Martin North East is a seasoned politician, but it is grossly misleading to insinuate that the liquidity pressures being faced today are the fault of the current administration. The fact is that expenditure has consistently outstripped revenue, forcing greater reliance on borrowing. It does not take a PhD economist to understand that any minister of finance, past or present, would have faced the same reality, particularly given that in his ten years as minister, he failed to implement meaningful measures to address revenue.

The reality is clear, essential payments must be made. The new minister of finance is working within the constraints left behind, doing so in a fiscally responsible manner while ensuring that obligations to the people are kept. It is not mismanagement, but rather the difficult process of recovery from years of fiscal imbalance.I am eager for the measures that the new minister of finance, along with the new administration, will put forward to address the shortfall in revenue. The challenges are real, but the early signals suggest a commitment to fiscal responsibility and a willingness to confront the issues head-on.

Rather than misrepresenting the situation, the member for Diego Martin North East would serve the nation better by using his political energy constructively, instead of spreading grossly misleading narratives.

SASHA DEVERTEUIL

San Juan